


Chocolate Kisses and Always

by ApprenticedMagician, Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Series: Cue Cards and Velvet Boxes [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: 5+1 Things, Happy Ending, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24533635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApprenticedMagician/pseuds/ApprenticedMagician, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: 5 times Andrew thought Neil was going to propose, and one time hefinallydid.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Cue Cards and Velvet Boxes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770565
Comments: 31
Kudos: 320





	Chocolate Kisses and Always

1.  
They were only at row E when Andrew realized that a career of making multi-millions had thoroughly spoiled him rotten.

“Remind me why we’re hiking to third-class pleb seats instead of watching from home on our big screen?” he whined, in the most manly of fashions.

Neil, disrespectful lout, just kept climbing the stadium steps, laughing at him all the while. “First of all, I had no way of knowing I would win the radio’s stupid draw.” Okay, but row T? Seriously? Neil could have resold the tickets or given them away. “Second, we’re here because there’s no screen bigger than the jumbotron.”

As if that should matter, when they could be wearing pyjamas. Still, there was no fighting with Neil (he had tried on the car ride over). Around row K, Andrew stopped for a breather and suddenly realized how packed the stadium was - the national championship between Kevin and Jean had sold out nearly every one of the 30,000 seats in this place.

Unbidden, came the strange thought: it was a far bigger stage than Bon Argent, the independent bistro that boasted a maximum guest capacity of 75 and had been the site of one of Andrew’s infamous ‘non-proposals’. Not that that should be relevant. He didn’t know why his brain was comparing venues, especially when Neil had gone ahead and was preoccupied with making himself comfortable on the plastic seating, waving over a snack vendor. Neil didn’t _seem_ to be planning anything; no sweats, no pocket-patting or hand fiddling, none of the signs of nervousness Andrew remembered being plagued with when it had been his ass in the hot seat called: ‘so I wanna propose to my boyfriend’. Just remembering that god-awful process was spiking Andrew’s nervous sweating all over again.

Andrew tried to knock his brain right and resumed his climb. He hadn’t gone through with the public proposal, so there was no reason for Neil to try and upstage him.

...Right?

“Nice of you to join me,” Neil teased, a bag of licorice already torn open in his lap. He had also acquired two bottles of water and a bag of chocolate covered almonds, which he passed to a wheezing Andrew.

“That’s… me…” Andrew said, glaring and daring Neil to laugh. “Mr. Nice Guy.”

“Mm, pretty sure that title’s mine since I bought us snacks. Nearly cost me an arm, shit’s so expensive.”

Andrew tore open his expensive nuts, heart still palpitating from the stairs (it had to be the stairs, right?) “Long as you aren’t dipping into the money you set aside for my ring, I’m not upset.”

Whoops. Or maybe the heart thing was his body’s way of telling him he was about to spout some incredibly stupid bullshit. Ugh, was this him trying to play it cool? He was embarrassed for himself.

“Nah,” Neil drawled, a terrifyingly perceptive smile creeping fast towards his eyes, “the ring I bought cost a much bigger fortune. I’ll be penny-pinching all year just to pay off the loan I took.”

The tease sent something cold skittering through Andrew’s chest, slowing everything down and making him want to hit something. They had been having fun, right? Just taking the piss, but something had suddenly hit a bad note with him and it wasn’t funny anymore.

Why wasn’t it funny?

Andrew moved slowly, stretching out to hold Neil’s hand, then twining their fingers together, moving to and fro to watch Neil’s engagement ring shimmer. It felt important to reinforce: “Neil, I meant it when I said I didn’t need a ring to marry you.”

Neil softened, squeezing gently back and dialing down the banter. “No, I know. But you should still be asked.” He raised their hands to his lips and left a quick kiss singing on Andrew’s wrist. “‘Yes or no’ goes both ways, right?”

“Then ask me.”

Lips still close, Neil shook his head. “Much as I’d love to steal attention away from Jean and Kevin, I won’t. Not here.”

But Andrew’s ‘yes’ was practically _eating him up inside_. “Why does it matter where you ask me?” Andrew spat impatiently.

“Why did it matter for you?” Neil countered, reminding Andrew of the minimum five attempts he made to get it just right. But that wasn’t the same thing…

Andrew had been tired of the looks he got when people found out he and Neil were in a relationship; looks that either worried or judged, all of them thinking that Neil deserved better than the stunted man who’d gutted him in university. Of course, Andrew agreed with them. Why else had he pushed himself to step up and make an effort, if not to prove to the world that he could be normal ( _for once_ )? That he could provide Neil all the romance and devotion he deserved?

Neil, contrarily, had nothing left to prove to Andrew. Not since they’d survived butchers and ravens and long distance phone charges. Not since he’d promised ‘it’s always yes with you’ and gone on to keep his word with each day that came.

Some stadium emcee announced a pre-game kisscam event, but Andrew hardly noticed anything past the familiar fire that sparked in Neil’s eyes; fire that said, ‘I’m going to prove you wrong’.

“There are things I need to prove too. You’ll just have to be patient with me.”

Andrew could do patient - he and patience were old friends, after all. So he sighed, blew some bangs off of Neil’s face, and huffed, “Have you even shopped for a ring yet?”

The crowd around them boo’d, presumably at some unsporting couple. Neil laughed. “Not telling.”

“ _Oh ho! We see you, row T!_ ” spewed the announcer, though it was the sudden spotlight on them that shocked them out of each other’s gaze. “ _Looks like we’ve found a pair of lovebirds!_ ”

There they were, semi-famous exy players anonymously featured on the stadium jumbotron. Neil looked somewhere between feeling amused and intruded upon. Either way resulted in a roll of his eyes and a soft query, “Yes or no?”

It wasn’t the yes he wanted to give, but it would do for now.

Andrew pulled him in, capturing Neil’s jawline so that he wouldn’t pull away too quickly, following some inner primal voice that demanded Andrew stamp an even bigger claim than the ring Neil refused to take off. Feeling it between his fingers, seeing it shine on Neil’s hand every day had done something to him. For the first time, the hoots, hollers, and whistles that rose around them made Andrew feel proud rather than insecure; it was like he was accomplishing some long lasting, hard-won goal, and everyone who bore witness was another point in his favour.

2.  
Andrew was dragged out of a semi-peaceful sleep as a piece of wet cloth slapped him unceremoniously in the face.

“What the fuck?” He flailed around, disoriented, before falling over the edge of the bed and onto the floor. He squinted blurry eyes to make out the numbers on his alarm clock. 4:15 am. “Seriously, what the fuck.”

“Get dressed,” Neil said, smirking annoyingly at him. “We’re going to miss it.”

“Miss what?”

Neil ignored him and left the room.

Andrew groaned and dragged a hand down his face. He had signed up for this. He had literally signed up for this. He slowly pulled himself to his feet. Neil had laid out an outfit for him: a pair of yoga pants and one of Neil’s tank tops.

“I swear if you woke me up this early so we could go for a run—” Andrew’s words were choked off in his throat as he came into the kitchen and saw the scene. Neil was dressed in similar clothes, crouching on the floor in front of King and scratching under her chin. When he heard Andrew come in, he looked up, scarred cheeks crinkling as he smiled widely.

Andrew was no stranger to this soft feeling blooming in his core but somehow it still managed to catch him off guard. He could see the ring he’d bought shining a little in the dim light and, not for the first time, he was grateful that this...relationship didn’t have an expiry date.

Neil stood and came toward him, pecking him lightly on his lips as he passed. “We’ve got to hurry,” he said, grabbing the car keys off their hook and heading outside. “Don’t forget to say goodbye to our children.”

Andrew rolled his eyes but dutifully knelt down to Sir and King’s level for kisses and pets. He was curious about what Neil was up to so he didn’t linger with the cats. He walked out into the dark, early morning to see Neil just shutting the trunk of their car.

Andrew half expected him to drive to the court so was a little confused when Neil drove them out of town. They parked in a dirt lot among the trees and Neil pulled two backpacks out of the trunk. He pulled one over his shoulders and handed the other to Andrew before closing the trunk and locking up the car. He wielded a bright flashlight and led the way out of the parking lot toward a well-travelled trail.

Andrew groaned but followed. He caught a glimpse of a sign reading “Mountain Sanitas Trail” but he had no time to protest; Neil was setting a quick pace.

Andrew was soon very glad he had been taking his conditioning more seriously since going pro because the trail was not an easy one. It was quite steep and sections of it were similar to a giant stone staircase with big steps he had to scramble over. He was breathing hard and his thighs were screaming at him by the time they stopped at the summit of Mount Sanitas.

Neil turned to him and grinned, as fresh as if they’d just gone on a leisurely stroll through the park. “We’re just in time.”

Andrew wanted to push him off the mountain.

Neil grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a large boulder overlooking the valley. He unpacked Andrew’s backpack first. The orange fuzzy blanket had been wrapped around a couple of their nicest plates and two champagne flutes. Andrew was envisioning some of his more unsteady moments and was suddenly very glad he hadn’t fallen.

Neil spread the blanket out on the rock before unpacking his own bag: a bottle of sparkling juice, a tray of little canapes, and a box of chocolate covered strawberries.

He climbed onto the rock and pulled Andrew up after him and they settled themselves facing the east and looking out across Boulder.

Andrew opened his mouth to ask what they were doing but Neil shoved a strawberry in before he could get a single word out.

“Just watch,” Neil said, popping the top off the bottle of juice.

A small sliver of light had been slowly growing in the east as they set up their picnic and now the sun was truly peeking over the horizon. Gold tinged the lazy clouds as they drifted across the sky as it brightened to orange and pink.

Andrew and Neil ate and drank and didn’t say a single word.

When the sun had fully come over the horizon, Neil reached over and pulled Andrew’s left hand into his and stroked his ring finger—still empty for now—with his thumb.

“Andrew?” Neil asked, voice small but still the most important thing in Andrew’s world.

“Neil,” Andrew said, turning to look at him and admiring the way the rising sun turned him golden. The yes was on the tip of his tongue. All he needed was for Neil to ask the question.

“We’re going to be late for practice if we don’t start back.” Neil smirked, pulling away to begin packing up the picnic.

Andrew glared but he didn’t want Neil to know how disappointed he was, so he didn’t reply.

They went straight to practice from the trail. Every time Andrew’s legs wobbled from exertion, he glared at Neil and the incorrigible asshole winked back.

3.  
Renee Walker was straight up the best friend Andrew had ever had and he promptly sampled a dark chocolate cherry truffle in her honour. If he were at all attracted to women, he was sure he would have proposed marriage to Renee in his second year (and probably only flubbed it twice, rather than the embarrassing _five_ it took for the rabbit).

For his birthday that year she had booked him for a tour of an award-winning chocolatier, something he would have never thought to do himself. Andrew had precious few memories of feeling like a kid in a candy store, but now that he was literally in a chocolate-making candy store, he couldn’t keep his eyes from darting around, burning everything into his permanent memory, asking questions of the tour guide, and all-in-all having a marvelous time.

Neil, however… Well, if nothing else, Neil seemed happy that Andrew was happy. He wasn’t sampling anything, not even the accompanying wine, but that wasn’t surprising. Neil disliked all chocolate from sweet milk to bitter dark (Andrew knew, he’d done extensive scientific testing).

“You didn’t have to come,” Andrew said, careful not to sound like he would have preferred that - he loved spending time with Neil. It was just that lately spending time with Neil carried a thick air of heavy suspicion.

“Didn’t want you alone in an aphrodisiac factory,” Neil said (suspiciously) while smiling (suspiciously), which was bullshit. Andrew was more than capable of handling a public tour of a chocolatier for an hour, even if people crowded him without thinking.

Neil reached across him for a white chocolate truffle, pressing his side against Andrew’s in the small space and poking him with something clunky and sharp from his jacket pocket.

Andrew glared as Neil perched the truffle on his tongue and sank it into his mouth, moaning. Then he reached for a second, digging the whatever-it-was in harder and Andrew jabbed him in the ribs. Neil didn’t hide his laugh very well. “Problem?” he mocked, tongue twirling 'round the chocolate.

Andrew glared and tried shifting away, but it didn’t help. “What has your pocket all stabby today?”

Neil’s eyes glittered. Suspiciously. “Couldn’t tell you,” he drawled. “Maybe you should remove it.”

To this day, there wasn’t a dare Neil could make that Andrew wouldn’t take. So in front of two dozen witnesses, he stuck his hand in Neil’s pocket to forcibly remove whatever was stabbing him and emerged with… some sort of cube??

Wait.

A whisper: “...Is this a fucking ring box?”

To his credit, Neil didn’t look one bit worried or upset while he browsed the caramel section. “I suppose it is.”

“Are you serious?” What kind of idiot stabs a man to propose to him? During a tour his friend bought for his birthday no less?? Unbelievable that Andrew was going to say ‘yes’ to this disaster of a man.

“Why don’t you open it and find out,” Neil dared, pulling back a few salted caramel chocolates to add to their bag.

Fingers trembling, Andrew did just that and then didn’t breathe for a solid seven seconds.

His breath was so thin it took him two attempts to wheeze out, “Neil.”

“Yes, dearest?”

“This isn’t funny. Give me the ring.” Asshole had stabbed him with an empty box.

“Hm?” Neil hummed, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Is it not in there? Weird. Must have misplaced it somewhere at home.”

Andrew was seriously close to screaming. Or stabbing - knife stabbing. Or maybe he’d just settle for stealing back his own ring from Neil. That’d show him. Was no one in this place going to stop him? Where was security?

“I swear to god, I will divorce you.”

“Tricky, when we’ve yet to marry.”

“Well, we’ll never get there until you man up and give me. My. Ring.”

“I wish I could, darling,” Neil said, voice dripping with the antithesis of sincerity, “but I don’t have it. Maybe once we’re home, if the cats haven’t eaten it.”

Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Truly an utmost tragedy he wasn’t engaged to Renee - she would never treat him like this and ruin a perfectly good birthday gift in the process. Andrew grabbed another two bags to fill as consolation.

4.  
Neil Josten was going to be the fucking death of him. This was payback; it had to be. But goalie pads and lace underwear were tame compared to the scene in front of him. He would never be completely immune to what Allison could do to his junkie’s face with a makeup brush and a stick of eyeliner, but this was extreme, even for her. He hardly looked human. His eyes were blazing blue out of his face and every curve, every plane was outlined in shimmering gold. That wasn’t the end of it. The scars stood out in stark relief against his skin and no attempt was made to hide or soften them. If anything, they’d been emphasized, every familiar ridge and bump on unashamed display.

Neil grinned at him, a wicked light in his eyes, and picked up a bottle of chocolate sauce sitting innocently beside the bed. He opened it and squeezed it, pouring it liberally over his chiseled torso.

Andrew’s knees gave way and he sat right down on the floor. “Fuck.”

“Like what you see?” Neil purred.

Andrew wasn’t sure what he should do next. The current options were: 1. Run away 2. Laugh hysterically 3. Pounce or 4. Stay right there on the floor and stare.

Neil was starting to look concerned. “Shit. Is it too much?”

“You’re such an asshole,” Andrew growled. “How have I let you live this long?”

Neil chuckled, leaning back and dragging his finger through the chocolate sauce on his belly, looking heatedly at Andrew as he sucked it off his finger. The effect was rather spoiled by Neil’s immediate grimace as he tasted it.

“Man, I didn’t think anything could make ice cream taste worse, but this might do it.” Neil scrunched up his face and looked like he was tempted to spit it out.

It was enough to break the ice. The uncertainty rising in Andrew’s chest settled back down to a manageable level and he climbed to his feet.

Neil stared as Andrew slowly stripped off his clothes.

“Don’t forget to put them in the hamper,” Neil whispered, even as his eyes traced every inch of Andrew’s form.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “The mood, Josten, you’re killing it.”

Neil shrugged. “You want me anyway. I can see it in your eyes.”

Andrew wanted to argue but he knew he couldn’t. He pointedly dropped his clothes on the floor and crossed to the bed, leaning over Neil and pulling him into a sweet, chocolate kiss.

Neil grinned into the kiss. “Andrew,” he said softly, like a promise.

“Yes?” Andrew prompted. “Do you have a question for me?”

Neil nodded, pulling back so he could look Andrew in the eyes. “Will you?...”

“Yes, Neil?” Andrew asked, anxiety warring with calm.

“...put the cat out? You forgot to close the door.”

Andrew turned and groaned as he saw King sitting by the bed, staring up at them with her big blue eyes. It seemed his punishment was not yet over.

He reluctantly pulled himself away from Neil to pick up King and close the door behind her. Neil welcomed him back into the bed with open arms and all Andrew’s thoughts left him for a long time.

5.  
Somehow, when Nicky suggested they hangout at a karaoke bar, Andrew assumed he meant at the public bar and not the private room he and Neil were led to by the host. Shrugging off his assumption, Andrew became further surprised that none of the Foxes occupied the room by the time they got there.

Well, not surprised - suspicious. As had become his habit.

“We’re early,” he said, once the host had left, promising to return with pitchers of water.

Neil shed his jacket in favour of meeting his eyes. “Looks that way.”

“Neil.”

“Yeah?”

‘Why are we early?’ is what he wanted to ask, but Andrew wasn’t stupid. He knew why. Neil wasn’t ever in the habit of punctuality, but he was currently in the habit of torturous plotting. So Andrew bit the bullet and instead asked, “How early are we?”

Neil made some effort to appear bashful. “‘Bout a half hour? I wanted you all to myself for a little bit.”

...Cheesy git. They had just been alone all evening at their apartment, unless you counted the cats, which no one ever did. Even with King crying and kneading incessantly in his lap, Andrew had been too absorbed in Neil, who had been acting like an idiot as usual, making a show over the trivial matter of searching for silly songs to sing tonight. Andrew hadn’t pet her properly as a result and she had left in a huff, tail held high and stiff with insult. And now Neil had dragged him out early? Andrew could have smoothed things over with a common toy, but now he would have to make it up to King with several expensive tuna treats.

Neil began to grin, as though he could read Andrew’s exact source of frustration with him. “Just sit down, Andrew,” he said, waving to the far seat. “You can say no. I just wanted to woo you.”

As though he could. Andrew’s heart was hard as stone, particularly now that it was Neil’s fault he’d be so poorly off with King later tonight. But he supposed Neil had earned a challenge, so he sat back for a show, pulled out the truffles he had snuck in, and said, “No love songs.”

“Shame. I am, in fact, going to sing several.”

Jesus H. Christ. “Tell me you’re not about to sing ‘Marry You’.”

Neil’s eyes grew wide with false hurt. “Why would you say that? Is it the look in my eyes? Or is it this dancing juice?”

There wasn’t even any music playing and Andrew was already so beyond words that he settled for popping a truffle into his mouth and glaring Neil into submission. Not that it worked. Neil simply stuck out his tongue.

“Don’t worry, babe, you’re worth more than a Top 40 hit.”

“...Did you just lie to my face?” It seemed audible around the chocolate.

“Nice try but I admit to nothing. Now hush.”

God what an idiot. It’s a good thing he was so… something or Andrew would have thrown him in a ditch long ago. ‘Something’ very quickly came to mean the opposite of a good singer, once some musical score began chiming through the huge speakers and the screen began flashing through random scenery. ‘Moulin Rouge’? Andrew wondered where on earth Neil had found this unfamiliar tune. Probably a quick google search.

“ _Never knew I could feel like this... Like I’ve never seen the sky before…_ ”

Something the size of an exy ball rose up in Andrew’s throat and something else felt cracked beneath his ribs. As Neil went on, and the lyrics grew sappier, it seemed more and more like a song he had consulted Nicky about. Andrew found himself blinking away moisture and shoved another truffle in his mouth.

Ridiculous, impossible man. To serenade him like this and wear his ring as a claim that he was Andrew’s… what was Neil waiting for to finally ask Andrew to be his?

The host returned with their water sometime in the second chorus, then left. Andrew nearly sent it spilling to the floor in his desperate dive to do anything with his hands. Neil jerked a step forward and stopped singing.

“Andrew?” he asked, clearly concerned which made it all the more embarrassing.

“I’m fine,” he answered, not the least bit unaware of the irony. “This isn’t ‘no’. Keep going.”

Neil hesitated. “‘Not no’ isn’t the same as ‘yes’.” His voice was chilled.

How could Neil say that to him now, when the only word in all the world’s languages that Andrew wanted to say was ‘yes’? “‘Keep going’ is pretty close.”

Neil’s eyes became fire. “I’m not aiming for ‘close’!”

“Neil.” Andrew took a steady breath, patching up whatever self-control had fallen apart. “I’m embarrassed, not triggered. You wanted to do this, I’m saying you can keep going.”

Neil’s hands were tapping against his hips. He stared Andrew down, the music from Moulin Rouge fading away, and then dropped the tension in his shoulders. His fire settled into a twinkling ember, and he teased, “Sure you can’t just say ‘yes’ for me?”

Andrew glared. “Hurry up and ask me something I want to say ‘yes’ to, asshole.”

Neil laughed. “Maybe you’re the one who needs to hurry up.”

A childish response, but Andrew let it go with an eyeroll and Neil turned back to the jukebox, clocking in another tune, this one much more jaunty and brassy. Neil even started dancing, a funny sway from side to side while snapping his fingers.

“ _It’s not unusual to be loved by anyone._ ”

Which is when Nicky burst in the room, not sparing a single second before joining in at the top of his lungs, “ _IT’S NOT UNUSUAL TO HAVE FUN WITH ANYONE!_ ”

“ _But when I see you hanging about with anyone,_ ” chimed in Dan, right on his heels and consequently explaining how Nicky, of all people, was early. They must have carpooled. “ _It’s not unusual to see me cryyy!_ ”

Matt followed in behind them, waving to Andrew and laughing at the antics of the other three, who were crowding around for microphones and exchanging silly dance moves. “I thought we’d be the first ones,” Matt said, companionably, sitting beside Andrew and setting down Dan and Nicky’s purses. “Did you guys hit good traffic?”

“Something like that.”

A (very, very) small part of him was almost disappointed the wooing was over.

+1  
Neil had been asleep for a long time, but Andrew was still awake. He couldn’t shut his brain off to fall asleep. Flashes of the last few weeks kept playing before his eyes like some strange, disjointed movie. Neil, saying yes. Neil, lit by the rising sun. Neil, chocolate on his lips begging for sweet kisses. Neil, saying everything but the words Andrew wanted to hear.

King was curled up at his side and her soft, even breathing was helping calm him. Sir was on Neil’s pillow, half wrapped around the back of his head. Andrew didn’t want to disturb them, but lying in bed staring at the ceiling wasn’t doing anything for his sleepless state.

In frustration, Andrew threw off the blankets and rolled out of bed. Neil didn’t seem to notice him leaving; he just rolled over and nuzzled his face into Sir’s side, and wasn’t that a wonder. He could toss and turn all he liked and Neil felt safe enough to keep sleeping.

He wanted a cigarette but he was seriously trying to cut back and he’d already had one earlier in the day. Instead, he opened the freezer and dug around for the half full carton of rocky road. He grabbed a spoon from the drawer and the fuzzy orange blanket off the back of the couch before walking out onto the balcony. He could smell rain in the air, but it hadn’t started falling yet.

He wrapped himself in the blanket and breathed deep. King’s collar jingled as she followed him out onto the balcony; he dropped to the ground, his back up against the railing. She curled up in his lap, purring.

“I didn’t mean to wake you, dear heart,” Andrew said. “You didn’t have to follow me out here.”

King meowed and pushed her face into his hand.

“Do you know that you have the most frustrating master in the world?” Andrew asked, setting the ice cream aside in favor of running his fingers through her soft fur.

She purred in response, sinking boneless into his lap like a puddle of contented cat.

“You’re my best girl, aren’t you?” Andrew asked softly. He had always thought people who got all sappy with their pets were the worst and he hated himself for becoming one of those people. At least Neil didn’t know. King was good at keeping secrets.

He paused his petting, getting lost in his thoughts, and King placed her chin in his hand. He scratched lightly, his fingers getting tangled in her collar. Then his fingers caught on something he wasn’t expecting, a thick metal ring dangling from the collar beside the tag. Neil wouldn’t—

—Neil fucking would. There it was, hanging innocently from King’s collar, a simple band, the twin to his own, save for a line of topaz where Neil’s had rubies. King was protesting as Andrew squeezed her tight. He relaxed immediately, petting her soothingly until she calmed in his arms. Then, with trembling fingers, he undid the buckle on her collar and slid the ring free.

He scrambled to his feet, King still in his arms, and marched back into their apartment. He stood at the foot of their bed and, with one wild sweep of the arm, he pulled all the blankets onto the floor.

Neil shifted, sluggish and slow. He rolled over, propping himself up on his elbows, and blinked bleary eyes, trying to cope with his abrupt departure from sleep. Eventually, he focussed on the cat in Andrew’s arms and the softest smile Andrew had ever seen spread across his face. “You found it.”

“I found it?!” Andrew asked, voice rising as he could finally give a voice to his frustrations. “I FOUND IT?! How fucking long has that been there?”

Neil’s brow furrowed. “What day did we do the hike?”

“You mean to tell me that my engagement ring has been on the cat for two fucking weeks?” King was protesting at being held and Andrew finally opened his arms to let her go.

“I really expected you to find it sooner.” Neil shrugged.

“What the fuck, Neil?!” Emotions were running rampant through Andrew’s head: anger at Neil’s smug grin, shock from reevaluating everything that happened in the last two weeks, frustration at himself, and elation because the moment was finally here.

“Is that a yes?” Neil asked.

“Fuck you,” Andrew exploded. “That is not how you’re asking me. You fucking tortured me for two weeks with romantic and near perfect almost-proposals and now you’re going to man up and do the job properly. I want you on your knees. I want pretty words and eloquent speeches. You’re going to fucking do this right.”

Neil’s face grew softer as Andrew vented. He didn’t protest, just flipped on the lamp by the bed before standing and crossing to his dresser. He pulled open the sock drawer and unstuck something flat and rectangular from the underside of the drawer.

Andrew almost screamed when he saw it was a stack of cue cards.

Neil got down on one knee and cleared his throat. “Webster’s dictionary defines engagement as—”

“Oh, hell no,” Andrew interrupted him.

Neil smirked and tossed the card over his shoulder. “Albert Einstein once said ‘When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand again.’”

“Nope,” Andrew said. “Try again.”

Neil laughed and threw away another card. Sir leapt off the bed and pounced on it, doing his best to tear it into pieces.

“Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us—”

“Stop,” Andrew said.

“As you wish,” Neil said, throwing the last of the cards across the room and reaching up to take Andrew by the hands. He looked up, face serious. “When we met, you called me a rabbit and that is all I was. All I knew how to do was run. But with you, I’ve become so much more. I’ve become a friend. I have a family. I am someone who is known and loved and wanted. You asked me to stay and you gave me a reason to fight to stay. Andrew Joseph Minyard, will you be my husband?”

Andrew gripped Neil’s hands tightly and Neil held him back just as fiercely. “Obviously. Idiot,” he whispered hoarsely.

Neil laughed and went willingly when Andrew dragged him to his feet. As far as kisses went, it wasn’t the best Andrew had ever had. Neil’s breath was stale and Sir and King had decided that since their masters were awake, it was obviously time to eat. But it was a good kiss and it came with the certainty that there would be thousands more to come.

“Did you see the inscription?” Neil asked when they pulled back for air.

Andrew shook his head and held the ring up to the light. _Always Yes_ He clutched the ring in his fist and didn’t say anything.

“What, no snarky remarks?” Neil teased. “You’re not going to tell me I can’t promise you always?”

Andrew relaxed his fist and slid the ring over the fourth finger on his left hand. He flashed his hand at Neil. “It looks like you just did.”


End file.
